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Vorador's Mansion
Vorador's Mansion is a playable location that is featured in Blood Omen and Defiance . It is hidden deep in the Termogent Forest Swamp and is the home of the Vampire Vorador . In Blood Omen, Kain sought a way to defeat the circle 's protector, the Sarafan Malek . Meeting with the 'Oracle of Nosgoth ', he was told of the only person to have defeated Malek in battle, the Vampire Vorador. The Oracle (actually Moebius) directed him to seek the Ignis Fatuus which would "light the path to Hell" - marking the way to Vorador's Mansion. Kain followed the Ignis Fatuus lanterns into the heart of the Balck Forest and discovered Vorador's mansion in all it's extravagant glory. The mansion was luxurious and decked out with blood red carpets with gold trimmings and several impressive looking busts, artworks and sculptures. Within the Mansion's walls Kain's main adversaries were Vorador's vampire brides (although there were some human adversaries as well - many of whom are trapped in some form or another.) Kain finds several interesting things inside the Mansion; including a chronicle detailing the history of the Sarafan Brotherhood and a 'larder' which had several humans held captive in a bloodied room (upon the walls of this room is "Manus Celer Dei " is written in blood - this translates as "The swift hand of god"). Kain was also able to find the Blood Shower spell and Chaos Armor here. In a 'dining room' of sorts (with at least on dead human suspended above the table and dripping blood into a large pot) Kain was able to meet Vorador himself, who advised Kain not to meddle in human affairs, but also gifted Kain the Signet Ring to summon him if needed. Kain left afterwards, turning his attention to Dark Eden . In the chaos that followed Kain's decision to eliminate the young William the Just , Vorador was apparently captured at his Mansion by Moebius' Mercenary Army . The Mansion returned in Defiance, when Raziel sought out Vorador after discovering that he had created the Reaver blade . Presumably following the same method as the younger Kain had, Raziel arrived; not for the first time in his journey; a short while after the younger Kain had left. Raziel discoverd the same luxurious interior, but with the effects of the timeline change (and possibly Kain's entrance itself) Vorador's Brides were absent and much of the mansion was quiet, instead Raziel's enemies were Vampire Golems and Revenants . In two of the mansion's libraries, Raziel discovered hidden spears and; using them to impale some of the Hylden statues in the inner courtyard; was able to teleport to the Water Forge in the Vampire Citadel and gain the Water Reaver . The Water Reaver, along with the Fire Reaver is enough to open the crypt at the end of Vorador's 'garden', where he finds the Vampire himself. Vorador is apparently awaiting Moebius Mercenary Army and is clearly suspicious of Raziel, as he was at their meeting at the nearby Dark Forge in the Termogent Forest Swamp 30 years earlier (in Soul Reaver 2 .) Vorador reveals that though he crafted the blade, it was Janos and the other Ancient Vampires who enchanted it. He does reveal however, reveal that he retrieved Janos's body from his collapsed Aerie and has stored it in a secret in the crypt. Vorador offers Raziel the chance of redemption by reclaiming The Heart of Darkness and restoring Janos, sending him to it's last known location - Avernus Cathedral . As he makes his way back to the library and the trail to Avernus , Vorador tells him that Avernus is in flames and warns of the "Unspoken " threat that dwells there. After the chaotic scenes at Avernus Cathedral, Raziel returns to Vorador's Mansion with the Heart of Darkness, finding the estate overrun with Moebius' Mercenary Army. He meets Moebius , who insultingly reveals that it didn't matter which champion either Kain or Raziel thought they were, so long as the result was the demise of Kain. Moebius reveals that Vorador apparently put up quite a fight and teleports away to see to his execution and his own death at the hands of the younger Kain. As Raziel presses through the Mansion this time, it is being demolished by the vampire hunters, who blast apart many of the usual routes through the mansion forcing Raziel to find new routes. Raziel is able to find his way to Janos' crypt and discovers, that they have not discovered the chamber containing Janos' corpse. Raziel returns the Heart of Darkness and uses the Wraith-blade to give the process a push, restoring Janos. Janos is shocked both at the turns history has taken and Raziel's possession of the Wraith Blade - which causes him to reassess the ancient prophecies. He hurriedly teleports Raziel and himself to the Vampire Citadel . Following this, the mansion is never seen again and is presumably destroyed by Moebius' Mercenary Army. Notes Kain himself comments that Vorador's choice of the swamp as a place for his mansion is especially odd considering that water is hazardous to vampires in Nosgoth. It is unclear if Vorador had any protection against this, but at the very least, the dark and wet forest would have kept out prying human eyes and would have blocked out the sun. Vorador's Mansion is the setting for one of the more famous deleted sections from Blood Omen, where in order to gain audience with Vorador, Kain would have had to beat the elder vampire in a game of chess, using real human players - if Kain was to make the wrong move they would all have attacked him - the correct move would have been a "classic chess checkmate", the sequence was apparently removed due to serious bugs. Vorador's mansion contains many pieces of art that relate to the Elder Wars - there are many paintings and murals which depict the Ancient Vampires and Hylden. In particular there is a repeated image of Vorador's mystery woman (seen in the 'dining room' in Blood Omen and in the Library in Defiance) and three statues (related to the spear puzzle in Defiance) who appear to be major figures in the Elder Wars - these figures (two female and one male) are also featured in many murals, though whether one of them is the 'Mystery Woman' is unclear. One of these female statues is also seen in the screenshots of Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy - though it is possible this was simply a placeholder until the proper statue was designed. The Spears the statues hold and which are later used to impale some Hylden statues to allow Raziel access to the Water Forge refer to Raziel in his different 'states' - they are named 'Heart Seeker' (after Raziel's quest as a human to kill Janos) 'Blood Drinker' (vampire) and 'Soul Stealer' (wraith) like many areas repeated from Blood Omen, the layout of the Mansion and artefacts are slightly different and most notably the Mural of Vorador from the floor of the entranceway has now become a statue. The numerous gold busts from Blood Omen are also missing in Defiance. The Crypt has a familiar design on the secret door to Janos' chamber that was also seen on the dais of the Subterranean Pillars Chamber in Soul Reaver 2. The image depicts all of the elements and pillars symbols and is interpreted as a complicated illustration of the process required to cleanse the balance guardian - as seen at the climax of Defiance. The appearance of Moebius in the Mansion in Defiance is admitted by developers to have been a mistake as Mortanius has already been seen (in the Avernus Catacombs ) to call the younger Kain to the Pillars for the final battle, by which time Moebius was already dead. This was done to increase tension within the Defiance storyline and can easily be admitted into the whole series storyline; either Mortanius is making a recording; or Moebius has travelled briefly to the future to gloat at Raziel. Despite Vorador being involved and providing the vampires for Kain's Army in Blood Omen 2 , the room Kain and Vorador are seen planning in (in the 'dream' sequence) does not appear to be the Mansion and it is likely it was destroyed by this time. Vorador's mansions is adorned with his Crest (a Chinese Lung Dragon) , which in Chinese lore is associated with Earth and Water. Interestingly we find the water forge and Earthreaver doors within his mansion mob15.jpg|Entrance to Vorador's mansion as seen in BO:LOK mob14.jpg|Vorador's mansion as seen in BO:LOK hylden-gargoyles-waterfalls.jpg|hylden gargoyles spouting water hylden-gargoyles-bloodfalls.jpg|hylden gargoyles bleeding vor5.jpg|container of the human's blood from above Vorador Statue.jpg|Vorador Statue Janos Audron Statue.jpg Category:Places Category:Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain Category:Legacy of Kain: Defiance Category:Blood Omen Locations Category:Defiance Locations